The Indian Panorama

Tag: ByteDance

  • US tells China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok or get ready for a ban

    US tells China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok or get ready for a ban

    New york (TIP)- The fight between the U.S. and China over TikTok reached an inflection point on Wednesday when the Biden administration demanded that ByteDance, the social media app’s Chinese owners, sell off its stakes in the app or get ready for a possible ban. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, told TikTok that ByteDance must divest its ownership of the company, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. officials have been concerned about Americans’ data on TikTok for years, particularly in relation to China’s national security laws, which forces companies to turn over data if the government requests it. It’s the first time the Biden administration has threatened to ban TikTok, echoing the position of former President Donald Trump.
    TikTok, meanwhile, told the Wall Street Journal that forcing Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the company wouldn’t eliminate national security concerns and maintained that its $1.5 billion plan to safeguard U.S. data via an agreement with Oracle was the best solution. Under TikTok’s plan, called “Project Texas,” all data on American users would be stored in the U.S. TikTok’s traffic is currently routed through Oracle’s servers, the social media app states, and in the future, Oracle engineers will be able to inspect TikTok’s source code.
    The company said it was disappointed in CFIUS’ decision.
    “If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter told the Journal in a statement. “The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing.” The Journal states that 60% of ByteDance is owned by global investors, 20% by employees, and 20% by its founders.

    Source: Gizmodo

  • European Commission bans TikTok on official devices

    BRUSSELS (TIP): The European Commission has banned TikTok on official devices used by staff amid concerns over data protection, a spokesperson told AFP on February 23.
    The ban also means European Commission staff cannot use the Chinese-owned video-sharing app on personal devices including phones that have official apps installed, the spokesperson said, confirming a report by news website Euractiv. Employees must remove the app as soon as possible and should do so by March 15. TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has faced increasing Western scrutiny in recent months over fears about how much access Beijing has to user data.
    The United States last year banned the app from federal government devices, and some US lawmakers are trying to prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States. Last month, the Dutch government reportedly advised public officials to steer clear of the app over similar concerns. In November, TikTok admitted some staff in China can access the data of European users. TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew was in Brussels last month for talks with EU officials during which they warned TikTok to ensure the safety of European users’ data. (AFP)